The room burned red, a ruthless glow that stripped away shadow and mercy alike. At its center waited a single chair, bolted to the floor like an accusation, and bound to it was Delilah.

A blindfold crushed her vision into nothingness, her wrists and ankles locked so tight the restraints bit into her bone.

The metal beneath her was ice-cold, leeching heat from her skin, reminding her how thin the line was between living and breaking.

There was no comfort here. No softness. Even the air felt hostile.

Each breath scraped her lungs raw. The altitude thinned the oxygen to a cruel ratio, forcing her to choose between slow suffocation or desperate gulps that sent her head spinning.

Her chest burned. Her pulse thundered in her ears, loud enough to drown out her thoughts. Panic hovered close, waiting, because she knew this place didn't need blades or fire to kill her.

A young boy with blonde hair lounged before her, cross-legged on the floor in a casual hoodie and summer shorts. His expression was cheerful, almost playful. The Hybrid. Holly.

"I'm getting bored. Are you really sure he'll come to save you?"

Holly asked with an annoyed tone.

"…"

He sneered.

"You hardly know each other. Why would he risk himself for you? The last time I fought him, he was weak, and weak people know when to run."

Holly's words lingered. Delilah's mouth worked silently, opening and closing as if searching for a response. But no words came.

"This is dull. I want to fight. Are you certain he's your brother? It's been nearly a month."

For a long moment, Delilah was lost in thought, lips parted, sweat beginning to form on her brow.

"I'm not telling you anything."

Her words came out so softly they were nearly inaudible, but Holly caught them. This was how they'd always communicated: broken, brief, barely coherent. And yet they understood each other perfectly.

Holly wore a big grin.

"Neat. I like your faith in your brother. I can't wait to kill him."

Delilah's expression darkened. She was caught between hope and despair, but still, somehow, she trusted in the unknown.

***

Shadow of Death wandered the depths of the unknown forest.

He'd waited until his injuries healed and he'd regained enough strength to move on. Impatience gnawed at him. Actually, beneath it all, the little lost boy was terrified of being trapped here forever.

He couldn't blame anyone for this. He'd wandered off alone and gotten lost. Finding him deep in this forest while navigating the lava sea, or whatever worse dangers lie ahead, wouldn't be easy for them.

But what about White or Thor? Couldn't they locate him with their True Abilities?

Then again, desperate situations made the mind grasp at straws, logical ones, at least. And Halo was good at making assumptions, always finding reasons to justify them.

Maybe the loneliness was finally breaking him down. Solitude wasn't the comfort it once had been, not anymore.

Even so, while searching for a way out, he encountered something unusual. The trees were like all the others: ancient trunks with gnarled, tangled roots resting impossibly on water yet holding strong, vines weaving through the gaps.

But this place was different. It radiated an unusual calm, almost inviting warmth. The vines seemed gentler, the breeze lighter, and something about it beckoned him forward.

He didn't need to think long. Something was definitely different here. It could be a trap, the worst possible place… or maybe his way out.

'Fingers crossed… no heartbreaks.'

His steps became careful now, patient and deliberate. He refused to make even the slightest sound that might betray his presence.

A crew and a sister were waiting for him, after all.

But after sneaking forward for a while, he discovered something that left him torn between relief and terror.

Before him, embedded in a tree trunk, was a glimmering green crystal nearly a foot long. It pulsed with calm radiance, seeming to absorb all negative energy around it.

"Can this be…The core of the forest?"

He took a measured step back, glancing warily in all directions.

If this were the core, then knowing his luck, it would probably explode in his face or swallow him whole, or something equally disastrous.

He'd played with Death too long not to know that the bastard would jump at the chance to watch him beg for his life.

Once he'd worked through his doubts, a realization hit him: if the crystal meant harm, it would've attacked already. He stayed wary anyway.

His eyes squinted.

"What would happen if I broke it?"

It seemed crazy to want to destroy the only crystal he'd found in this whole forest, but he was completely serious. Desperate times call for desperate measures, after all.

However, before he could get the crystal, something shifted in him.

He grimaced.

'I knew it.'

Both Magnus and Beelzebub appeared at his call, while his head whipped around, checking every direction.

The atmosphere shifted. A sharp whipping sound cut through the air, faint and barely audible, yet he knew instinctively it was dangerous.

He was right.

A second later, not even his new ability, Beelzebub, helped. One moment he stood blinking in confusion, the next, he slammed into the ground, nearly losing a tooth.

He wasn't even able to recollect his thoughts before another attack landed.

He saw nothing, he couldn't pinpoint where the attack originated. And unlike the bald creature with its body manipulation, this enemy wasn't messing around. Experienced. Deadly skilled.

Soon enough, Halo was not only beaten, but he was also dragged about a mile away from the crystal.

Barely recognizable.

His face was a mess of swollen flesh; cheeks, nose, and eyes were all puffy, jaw distorted, and nose clearly broken. Every breath was agony. The pain nearly made him cry.

He lay there, utterly beaten. The vines didn't even attack, they just left him there, as though his humiliation were somehow contagious.

He lay there staring at the blue sky with its somewhat distant sun, trying to understand what had just happened.

An invisible Sinner. But how? Its presence hadn't felt that strong when he'd sensed it. Not strong at all, really. So how had it defeated him so easily?

There was no shame in losing to something invisible. The shame was in how thoroughly he'd been destroyed, too broken to even stand. And the most pathetic part? This wasn't a fight. It was a beating.

Still, this revealed something. The crystal had to be important.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.